10. Callum Smith – Super Middleweight. Record: 26-0-0 (19 KO)
Callum Smith is arguably the most underrated boxer in the world right now. Last year he won the inaugural super-middleweight World Boxing Super Series, beating and essentially retiring George Groves in the final to win the WBA and Ring Magazine titles. Smith seems just as comfortable going on the attack as he is sitting back and looking for counter punches, and has a vicious left hook that downed Hassan N’Dam twice in his last fight on route to a 3rd round TKO finish. Standing at 6 foot 3, it’s a complete mystery how Smith is able to keep below the 168 pound limit for the super-middleweight division in each fight. Smith has previously fought at light-heavyweight in a number of fights, and if he can unify the 168 division, I see no reason why he can’t be just as successful moving up in weight. With Golovkin making his super-middleweight debut this month and Alvarez rumoured to make the step up this year, the division is set to become just as competitive as the Froch-Ward era. It’s fair to say that it’s unlikely that anyone would beat those two, but if anyone can, it’s probably Smith.
9. Mikey Garcia – Lightweight. Record: 39-1-0 (30 KO)
Recent years have mostly consisted of jumps between weight classes for Mikey Garcia. In 2013 he won the WBO featherweight title, before winning the WBO super-featherweight title later that year. Then in 2017 he won the WBC lightweight title, then the IBF super-lightweight title last year, before then winning the IBF and WBC lightweight titles against Robert Easter Jr. It seemed like Garcia was able to conquer any weight class he fought in until earlier this year, when he suffered his first loss at the hands of IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr., in what proved to be a jump too far for him. Garcia was completely wiped out on the scorecards, not winning a single round on any judges results. It has to be noted however, that this was Garcia’s first loss in 40 professional fights, and he didn’t really look like he was anywhere close to losing in his other 39, winning by either stoppage or unanimous decision. Garcia vacated his WBC lightweight belt earlier this year, and it was announced shortly after that he would be named the champion emeritus, meaning that if he was to return to lightweight, he would automatically be awarded with a title shot. He is set to move back up to super-lightweight this year, but his next opponent is unclear at this point.
8. Tyson Fury – Heavyweight. Record: 28-0-1 (20 KO)
Heavyweights very rarely make it into pound for pound top 10’s unless they’re the unified or undisputed champion. Since 1989, just 5 heavyweight have appeared on The Ring‘s pound for pound top 10’s, proving that generally the heavyweight boxers aren’t considered to be as skilled as their lighter counterparts. Tyson Fury isn’t your average heavyweight boxer though. He looks like a heavyweight, and obviously weighs as much, but he fights and moves like a middleweight. He is without a doubt the most technically skilled heavyweight on the planet today, and is about as quick as people 8 stone lighter than him. He doesn’t currently hold a belt from a sanctioning body, but he is the lineal champion, a title that he won from Wladimir Klitschko in 2015. If Fury goes on to become a unified or undisputed champion then for me he will undoubtedly be top five pound for pound in the world.
7. Errol Spence Jr. – Welterweight. Record: 25-0-0 (21 KO)
Errol ‘The Truth’ Spence became the IBF welterweight champion in 2017, knocking out Kell Brook in the 11th round in Brook’s hometown of Sheffield. Since then he’s made defences against Lamont Peterson, Carlos Ocampo and Mikey Garcia, an incredibly impressive stack of names it has to be said. Spence has an extremely powerful left hand, and has a knockout rate of 84%, including his first round knockout of Ocampo from a vicious body shot. He also has a tremendous work rate, fast hands and excellent footwork that creates openings for those big power shots. It also has to be noted that he completely shut out Mikey Garcia earlier this year, winning every round on every judges scorecards, which is a huge feat considering Garcia is a 4-weight world champion. Spence is reportedly aiming for a unification bout against WBC champion Shawn Porter later this year, before hopefully setting up the much anticipated bout against WBO champion, and fellow pound for pound great, Terence Crawford. Spence has previously fought at super-welterweight and middleweight as well, meaning there is a very real chance he will move back up in weight in the future.
6. Gennady Golovkin – Super Middleweight. Record: 39-1-1 (35 KO)
GGG is arguably the toughest man in world boxing right now. Golovkin has never been knocked down. Not in his 350 amateur fights, not in sparring, and not once in his 41 professional fights. On top of that, he has a knockout rate of 85.4%, which easily make him one of the most feared middleweights/super-middleweights on the planet. GGG’s only loss and only draw so far both came against Alvarez, who is currently the unified middleweight champion. These bouts were highly controversial however, as many viewers believed that Golovkin did more than enough to win both fights. GGG made the step up to super-middleweight earlier this month, as he knocked out the previously unbeaten Steve Rolls in the 4th round, in his first professional fight outside of the middleweight division. There are rumours that a third and final fight between Golovkin and Alvarez could materialise by the end of the year, but at the moment, nothing is confirmed.
5. Naoya Inoue – Bantamweight. Record: 18-0-0 (16 KO)
I don’t there’s a more apt boxing alias than Inoue’s ‘The Monster’. On the surface Inoue doesn’t look like a monster but he is probably the pound for pound hardest puncher in the world. With a knockout rate of 88.9%, just one significant power shot of his can end a fight completely, and his bone shuddering body shots have probably ruined more livers than Jack Daniels over recent years. For a man who weighs 8 stone, his power is simply staggering. 81.3% of Inoue’s knockout victories have come inside the first half of the fight, and a fight of his hasn’t gone the distance in 3 years. Despite his power however, Inoue is often a very cautious and calculated fighter, and is only aggressive when he sees that the end is in sight for his opponent. Inoue’s victory over Emmanuel Rodriguez last month made him a 3-weight world champion, winning titles at light-flyweight, super-flyweight and bantamweight. His next fight is set to take place later this year against WBA champion Nonito Donaire in the final of the bantamweight World Boxing Super Series, and following that I wouldn’t be surprised to see him fighting at featherweight within a couple of years.
4. Oleksandr Usyk – Cruiserweight. Record: 16-0-0 (12 KO)
The undisputed cruiserweight world champion has had a rapid rise over the past few years. Usyk won the 2012 Olympic gold medal in the heavyweight division, before turning professional and becoming a world champion in just his 10th fight and unified the WBC and WBO titles in his 14th. He then won the cruiserweight World Boxing Super Series last year to become the undisputed champion, beating unbeaten Murat Gassiev by unanimous decision in the final. Usyk is a world class technical boxer, with an excellent ring IQ, fantastic footwork and an amazing sense of range. In Usyk’s last bout last year, Tony Bellew proved that it is possible to outbox the Ukrainian. He did this for the opening 5-6 rounds, but it was clear that outboxing Usyk is seriously physically draining. Bellew looked exhausted before Usyk eventually ended the fight in the 8th round. Usyk is set to step up to heavyweight later this year against Carlos Takam, and is most likely going to be the mandatory challenger of the winner of the rematch between Ruiz and Joshua. I think that Usyk is more than capable of becoming a heavyweight world champion, and I can see him beating both Ruiz and Joshua should that fight come about.
3. Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez – Middleweight. Record: 52-1-2 (35 KO)
I think it’s fair to say that Canelo has the best resume on this list. Alvarez has beaten Golovkin, Jacobs, Khan, Cotto, Lara and Mosley, and his only loss to date came against the all-time great Floyd Mayweather Jr. He is a 3-weight world champion, and currently holds the IBF, WBA, WBC, Ring Magazine and Lineal middleweight titles, just one title away from being undisputed. Alvarez also has an incredibly durable chin, and has not been knocked down once, in the amateurs or as a professional. Over the course of his two fights with Golovkin, one of the hardest punchers in the world, GGG landed 226 power punches, and not a single one sent Canelo down. Alvarez began his professional, career at the age of just 15, and at the age of 28, has competed in 55 professional fights, more than many manage in their whole careers. With him being just 28, you have to wonder if we’ve even seen Alvarez’s best years to date, and with him being rumoured to make the step up to super-middleweight soon, there’s the chance he’ll keep going for a long time, and may well become a 4-weight world champion.
2. Terence Crawford – Welterweight. Record: 35-0-0 (26 KO)
I think it’s conceivable to say that Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford may never lose a fight in his career. In his 35 fight professional career, Crawford has barely looked like he’s broken a sweat, and has barely looked like he could possibly lose. Despite the controversy surrounding his last victory against Amir Khan, it’s still clear that Bud was completely in control throughout the contest. And despite the low blows landed by Crawford, it’s still incredibly likely that he would’ve gone on to a unanimous decision victory is Khan was able to continue. Crawford won his first world title in 2014, beating Ricky Burns to win his WBO lightweight title. He became the WBO super-lightweight champion in 2015, and added the WBC title in 2016, before beating Julius Indongo to become the undisputed champion in 2017. He then made his welterweight debut last year, as he stopped Jeff Horn in the 9th round to become the WBO champion. Like most fans I’m hoping to see Crawford face off against the other champions in there division, and in particular I’d love to see a matchup between him and IBF champion Errol Spence Jr. Throughout his career Crawford has not been the type of boxer to shy away from the big fights so I wouldn’t be surprised to see him unify the division within the next year.
1. Vasyl Lomachenko – Lightweight. Record: 13-1-0 (10 KO)
Lomachenko is essentially the perfect fighter. He is immensely well rounded, with outstanding athleticism and an unmatched ring IQ. His only loss as a professional came in his second fight, against Orlando Salido in a split decision for the WBO featherweight title. That’s right, in his second fight he was already fighting for a world title. Lomachenko would then win that title in his very next fight, beating Gary Russell Jr. by majority decision. He won two Olympic gold medals in 2008 and 2012, one at featherweight and one at lightweight, as well as winning the amateur world championships twice, and also the European championships. Reportedly, Lomachenko had an amateur record of 396-1, and managed to avenge the only loss of his amateur career in the first round of the 2008 Olympics. That means that overall, Lomachenko has had 411 fights, and lost only two. That gives him a staggering win rate of 99.5%. When it comes to his professional career, he is currently a three-weight world champion, and has currently unified the WBA and WBO lightweight titles, and looks set to fight for the WBC title later this year against Luke Campbell. Earlier this year he knocked out Anthony Crolla in devastating fashion to defend his titles, and in the not to distant future, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him step up as far as welterweight. Since turning professional, 92.9% of his fights have been for a world title, meaning that the only time he hasn’t fought for a world title as a professional was his pro debut. Honestly, Vasyl Lomachenko is simply outstanding, and every time I discover something new about the Ukrainian I am blown away even more.
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